The Way You See Me
by maja3322
Summary: Draco has a near death experience, but he is saved by the most unlikely person - Hermione Granger. The rescue gave Draco a strange insight into Hermione's thoughts and now he doesn't know what to think of her... Friend or enemy? Or prhaps something more
1. First Sight

**First sight**

Ugh, why in Merlin's saggy beard was he back here? Why did he willingly submit himself to this torture? He hadn't been forced to go back. But when his parents just _assumed_ that he wasn't going back, the old rebellious side of him resurfaced and he admitted himself to yet another year of torment. Yet another year at Hogwarts. Well, at least it would be his final one. At least there was that.

Actually, nothing else but that thought kept him going. He didn't really have a lot of friends anymore. Apparently he was considered a traitor to most of his House. After Crabbe's death, Goyle had avoided him like the plague. To Goyle he was a bad luck charm. Even Pancy Parkinson had left him, that cow. He almost missed her brainless chatter. But only almost. The only person who really stayed faithful to him was Blaise.

But as of now Blaise wasn't with him. Blaise wasn't taking Advanced Potions. He was practically the only Slytherin who wasn't taking that subject; every other Slytherin from their year was gathered in the small class room. Though school started almost a month ago, the Slytherins were still able to look hatefully at him and talk crudely about him behind his back. But he let it go. He didn't need any of them.

There was one person, though, in the dungeon, who wasn't giving him the mean eye or talking trash about him. Of course, being the only Gryffindor present she didn't really have a whole lot of people to talk to, but still. It was comforting to know that somebody wasn't hating him. At least not out in the open. Who knew what was brewing under that pretty surface. He knew very well that he wasn't Hermione Granger's favourite person. But once in a while he thought he detected a sad little glance in his direction.

That almost annoyed him more than all the bullshit his House mates could say about him or do to him. He didn't need pity. From anyone. Least of all Hermione Granger, the ever present pebble in his shoe. When he thought he'd gotten it out – boom! – there it was again, back to annoy him! Yeah, she might have been there to help save his life, but so what? That didn't mean that he owed her anything. And it certainly didn't mean that she was free to feel sorry for him!

Wrapped up in his own thoughts Draco paid little attention to the work in front of him. He didn't notice how his potion started bubbling. He didn't notice that he was stirring counter clockwise when he should have been stirring clockwise. And he didn't notice the blast before the brew hit his face and his skin started burning. Then he blacked out.

"_Malfoy!" A voice from far off called out to him. He couldn't see anything. Everything was dark. Impenetrable dark. He tried to look at his hands, but he couldn't even feel if he was moving. He didn't know if his eyes were open or closed. He felt nothing._

"_Malfoy!" The voice called again, more desperately this time. He tried to move towards the sound but nothing seemed to happen. It was still dark. He was still lost. He tried a new approach._

"_I'm here!" He called with out with silently, praying that the voice would hear him. Instantly a little light went on in the distance. He wanted to run to it, but he was still immobile. He didn't even know if he existed at all. Was he even alive?_

"_Malfoy, where are you?"_

"_Here, I'm here!" He didn't know where here was. He didn't know were anything was. But as he answered the light came closer._

"_Over here!" He called out to the beacon and it came even closer. Slowly he began to see a shape in the light. He strained his eyes and found that he knew the shape. Quite well, actually. The bushy hair, the petit frame, the round hips. Great, his rescuer was Granger._

"_Granger?" He asked silently, hoping to be proved wrong, for once in his life. That didn't happen._

"_Shh!" Suddenly she was right in front of him, her face hovering above him. He was lying down, he figured. She reached out to him. He tried to turn away, to avoid the touch he knew was coming. But he still couldn't move._

"_Just lie still," she pleaded patiently. Then her fingers suddenly touched his cheek. Everything around him erupted into a bright, yellow light. It seeped through every fibre of his being, before finally breaking through his skin, seeping out through his pores. He felt himself get tucked forward and suddenly he was looking down at himself._

_He was a mess. That was for sure. His face was red and blistered and his eyes were closed together as if in extreme pain. Pain he didn't even know he was feeling. He moved his hand, but it wasn't really his hand. It was Hermione's. The hand that was caressing his face gently._

'_Poor guy,' he thought. But it wasn't his thought. It was Hermione's. 'He might not be the nicest guy in the world but he didn't deserve this.' She ran her thumb along his jaw and Draco shuddered. Or was it Hermione? Somehow he couldn't tell them apart. _

'_If only people understood him. If only they knew him. He's so misunderstood. So alone. And so brave. If only he didn't have to be alone. If only there was something I could do for him. But he doesn't want my help. There's nothing I can do for him. He's so strong but nobody can go through life alone. I wish he'd let me help him. If he wasn't that damn stubborn we might even be friends.'_

_Draco was stunned by her thoughts of him. Didn't she hate him? Wasn't she going to rant about how big an arse he was? Or how stupid he was for not paying attention to his work? Or how arrogant and annoying he was. Where were all the normal cuss words she usually used about him? What was going on here?_

"_Malfoy," her soft voice beckoned. "Malfoy, come back. You have to come back now. You've been far away but now it's time to wake up. Come back."_

_And then he opened his eyes._

And stared right into Hermione's. She was crouched down next to him, fingers running along his jaw, soothingly and gently. He blinked, trying to separate dream and reality.

"Welcome back," she whispered gently, with a little smile. He felt his heart clench, remembering what he had felt her think of him. But then his wall returned. The wall he'd built to keep all unwanted thoughts and feelings out. He flinched and scooted away from her. As soon as her touch disappeared from his face he felt the sting of his burn. It hurt like one in Hell. Apparently she must have used some sort of healing magic to take away the pain. But he didn't care. He didn't want her help. He didn't need her pity. But he did feel a little bad about the hurt that flickered across her face.

"You need to go to the Hospital Wing," she said almost coldly. Great, he'd hurt her feelings. Bu-hu. Well, normally he wouldn't have minded. Normally he'd be a little proud. But… well, she had just saved him, hadn't she?

He opened his mouth to say something to her, he didn't exactly know what, but she shook her head.

"Don't talk," she said even more distanced than before. "Professor Slughorn will take you there."

With that she left him. And then he slid back into unconsciousness.

_**Uh, so here I go starting YET another story when I still haven't finished 'We're Stuck, You and I'. I'm so bad. But I just couldn't control myself. I had to write this. Hopefully you don't hate me too much…**_

_**Well, when all's said and done I still need reviews! Many of them... And I know you'll help me because you're the best readers and reviewers there ever was!**_


	2. In the Hospital Wing

**In the Hospital Wing**

When he woke up again he was lying in a bed in the Hospital Wing. It didn't take him long to know where he was – he'd spent his fair share of time in these beds. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes again, trying to go back to sleep. Lately he'd tried to sleep as much as possible. Even when awake he remained in a sleep-like state. Of course that was what had landed him in this mess to begin with. A mess which Hermione Granger, of all people, had gotten him out of. A stray, dark thought whispered to him, _'Better if she'd just left me alone'_.

He shook his head violently to rid himself of the horrid thought. This wasn't him! He wasn't a weakling, too downcast to even fight for his own life! He was a Malfoy; strong, proud and in control. He was glad to be alive. At least in theory. In reality he didn't even _feel_ alive. He felt as if he was nothing more than an inferius. A lifeless person without any spark of interest in anything. He'd been living his life on auto pilot ever since he returned to Hogwarts, never caring what he was doing. If he didn't live like that he knew he'd feel the pain. The pain of everything he'd lost. It was easier to just cut himself off from the world than to let in the pain.

"Hey," a hesitant voice sounded from above. He opened an eye carefully to see who the person was. Of course, he should have guessed, it was Hermione Granger. Oh Merlin's haggy sack, she didn't think herself his saviour, did she? He groaned grumpily and closed his eye again. Hopefully she'd get the message at get lost.

"Ah, as cheerful as ever, I see," she said sarcastically. "Obviously you weren't badly hurt."

"What do you want, Granger?" he grumbled irritably.

"You could at least be a little grateful," she said indignantly. He heard the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor. He groaned again knowing that she'd dragged the chair to his bedside. Now that she'd gotten all comfortable she wasn't going to leave any time soon.

"Yeah, why'd you figure that?"

"Well, I did safe your life, didn't I?"

"I don't know about that," he huffed with annoyance. He opened his eyes and turned his head to face her straight on. "Did you ever pause to think that maybe I wasn't in the mood for being saved?" She opened her mouth in protest but he didn't give her the chance to speak. "I don't owe you anything, Granger, because you never did me a favour."

Pleased with the look of horror and surprise on her face he closed his eyes again. He listened for the chair to scramble as she hurried to get away from him, but the sound never came. Instead there was absolute silence. Until finally Hermione spoke again.

"I don't believe you," she said. "You may be mean and horrible, but you are also a coward and an arrogant prick!" at the insult Draco's eyes flew open again and he sat up halfway to stare down at her. "You are too much of a coward to seek out death! And you love yourself too much to just throw everything away."

"You don't know me at all!" he hissed back. Then he suddenly remembered what he'd heard her think about him. "Besides, I know you find me brave. Deep down you think I'm brave."

Her eyes widened in shock and Draco felt the glow of triumph. He had her now. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and a flicker of wonder and curiosity swept over her face.

"How…?" she stammered but stopped before she could finish the question.

"It doesn't matter," he snapped at her and she practically flinched from the harshness of his words. He cringed at his own malice. It really wasn't fair of him to do this to her after she had saved his life. But he couldn't contain himself. "What matters is that I don't need you to safe me, Granger. I can manage on my own. I don't need your help or your pity. I just need you to leave me alone."

For a moment Hermione was stunned into silence, but Draco saw how apprehension dawned on her face and she erected a hard exterior. Slowly she got up from her chair and looked down on him.

"You're wrong Malfoy," she said calmly. "You _do_ need my pity. Because nobody else offers it. Nobody else cares about you; do you understand what I'm saying? If I didn't pity you, if I didn't care, nobody would. And you would simply cease to exist."

With those words as her parting words she stomped angrily from the Hospital Wing. He watched her leave, completely aghast and confused. How dare she? He had told her he didn't need her pity and then she just threw more of it right in his face! And then she just walked away, robbing him of the chance to retort. He pondered running after her but decided against it. Let her think she had won. He would get back at her.

Satisfied with that thought he laid back down with his hands behind his head. He was smirking to himself, thinking of ways he could repay her, when he suddenly remembered the feel of her hand against his cheek. She had been so kind to him even though he didn't deserve it at all. Despite all the things he'd done to her over the years she had still rushed to his side to save his life. And even after being ungrateful for her brave deed she still found it in her heart to visit him, to make sure he was doing well. What was wrong with that girl?

Closing his eyes, still with thoughts of Hermione buzzing in his head, he felt a familiar tug and the darkness gave way to a bright, shining light.

'_Why does he insist on being so rude all the time?' though the thought was sour it was still coloured with hurt and pain. 'Why won't he just give up? Is it really so hard for him to understand that he doesn't have to be alone?'_

_He was sitting on a staircase looking down at his pale, frail hands resting in his lap. Absentmindedly he started fiddling with the hem of his skirt. No wait – not his skirt. Granger's skirt. And not his hands but Granger's._

'_Is it me that repulses him so?' she thought with a mental sigh. 'It would make sense that way, since he's never liked me. It just seems so childish to reject the only offer of help and comfort you get just because you don't particularly like the person who offers it. But isn't that classical Draco Malfoy? He's always been a child. In all the years I've known him he doesn't seem to have changed a bit from the boy he used to be. Except perhaps from the fact that he doesn't seem to care about anything anymore. What's wrong with him? I really wish he'd let me help him…'_

He broke the connection with a violent shake of his head. He didn't need to hear anymore of this. He didn't need it. It would only mean trouble.

But he didn't understand… how could the bond still be intact? He'd thought it was only a by-product of her healing touch and his coma-like state. And yet he could still hear her thoughts when he concentrated. That shouldn't be possible! Perhaps he should ask Madam Pomfrey. She probably knew what to do. Or… perhaps he should take advantage of it. What if he could use her thoughts to get back at her? He could pretend to accept her offerings of help, make her believe that they were friends and then, once she'd spilled all of her deepest, darkest secrets, he'd publicly humiliate her! The more he thought about it the more he loved it. It was perfect. Not only would he get back at her for all the years of snide comments and for her misplaced pity but perhaps he might also be able to win back some of his former followers. Once they saw him as his own, nasty self surely they'd return to him like the dogs they were! It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

With a nasty smile on his thin lips he fell into a deep, blissful sleep.

_**Oh, you didn't see that one coming did you?**_

_**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one. I certainly look forward to writing it.**_

_**So please review and in return you'll get a very delicious cupcake – with a taste of your own choice! Come on, I know you want it…**_


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